As someone who is mainly Irish, I get ecstatic when St. Patrick’s day rolls around. The bright green colors of the blooming plants and dazzling rainbows that streak through the sky are definitely my two favorite parts of St. Patrick’s day, but there’s always the unmistakable sense of mischief in the air. And who is better at mischief making than a leprechaun? Leprechauns, which you may know, are the little shoemakers that sport bright green clothing. These “Fairy Folk” are quick-witted, sly, and ambitious. They are fantastic dancers and musicians, and are always in need of new shoes, as they tend to were out quickly. They make their homes in “Fairy trees”, or hollowed out trees or caverns.  They are constantly on the run, however, as the humans of Ireland try to capture them in hopes that the leprechaun will grant them three wishes. Leprechauns are incredibly hard to catch, as they tend to outsmart they captors and poof into the air. Even if you are able to capture the leprechauns and get your three wishes, you must be careful though, because if you word your wishes wrong, you will be cursed with bad luck. These tricky little men are seen as the embodiment of St. Patrick’s day, and many traditions come from them. For example, leprechauns were know for pinching those who didn’t agree with them, so we carried the tradition on to anyone who wouldn’t wear green.  These little fairy folk have changed today’s holiday into the St. Patrick’s day we know today.

I found all of my information and pictures from this source here.

All around Animals has encountered some problems and little miracles. So far, I’ve accomplished a lot this week. I’ve finished up the west section, as I said in last weeks blog, and finished the homepage. I’ve also started my elevator pitch video, but I unfortunately had to restart, which I’ll talk about later. I’ve also gotten a lot of feedback on my website, which is a great step forward for making it the best website it can be.  Thanks to this, I was able to make impressive improvements on both my website and elevator pitch.

Even with these small successes, I’ve been incredibly stressed about my project. The deadline is in May, and I have yet to finish my website, start my video, and start my ted talk speech, which is a 5 minute long speech that revisits our project. I feel that this is way to much to put on a student, especially considering i’m working alone. I’m honestly very disappointed about my project, as I thought it would fun and exciting, but instead it’s just nerve wracking and anxiety-inducing. Many other kids feel this way too, and I bet the project would be so much better if we didn’t have to make so many videos and presentations.

By my next deadline, I want to have at least half of the North section done and have my elevator pitch finished. I had already started it, but the program I used, for some reason, made my content pixelated and blue. Now, instead of using a Chromebook, I have to use a small camera borrowed from the library. I’m worried the video won’t look as good as it should, and that I should of starting prepping this project from earlier on. I’m hoping my video will turn out decently, and that I get a fair grade on it.

Most of my issues with my project is not having enough time. I plan to have something finished by a certain deadline, but it doesn’t get completed. I’m really worried about this project, and the stress of other school projects is just making it worse. My website takes a really long time to make, but I only have about 2 months. I just want this project to finally be over with, and to get a good grade on it. I had so many good plans and ideas at the beginning of this project, but now I won’t have time to follow through with them.

I’m incredibly proud to say that I’ve accomplished tons this week. So far, I have not only had my elevator pitch speech, which I posted more about here, completely finished and approved, but also finished the West section of my website! This means that I’ve completed more than 25% of the project, and i’m working hard on wrapping up the rest. I only have the next 3 sections to finish, and then I can finally publish it!

This made me really excited and I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from my chest. This project has been stressing me out for such a long time, so it feels fantastic to get such a big chunk done. My elevator pitch is going great too, as I’ve already finished the script and practiced repeatedly. All I need to do is memorize it and record by next Friday and I should be good to go!

Since everything is going so well, I decided I should start working on the North section of the website, and hopefully get at least 1/2 of it done by next Friday. With the four day weekend coming up, I should be able to get most of it done by then, and hopefully start the next. I also need to memorize my script for the elevator pitch and, of course, actually record it. That shouldn’t be a problem though, as I have a good 20 minutes every advisory I can record in as well as next Thursday.

Fortunately, I didn’t run into any problems this week. The worst thing that happened was a couple of edits I needed to make on my script, and those were easy to fix. I had a small incident where my website wouldn’t save my progress, but I reloaded the page and nothing was lost. Thanks to this, I’ve had a relatively easy week! I certainly hope next week will go just as smoothly.

As I said in my last blog, which you can read about here,  my 20%  project is a fun, educational website that has people all around the world learn about the endangered animals in the u.s.  I’ve made progress since my last post, and I’m determined to get more done. So far, I’ve completely finished the designs, homepage, and animal selection. I’ve also completed my elevator pitch speech, which is a short 1 minute speech trying to get people to donate to your cause. Once I memorize the speech, I’ll be able to record it and start working on getting the information.

Even though I made a lot of progress on my project, there is still a lot I need to get done.Unfortunately, I haven’t started the west section yet, and I need to find reliable websites I can find the information on. I’m hoping that by next Friday I will have most of the west section done. I plan to work on it this weekend, and finish up on Friday. The section is only five animals each, so finding a picture and basic information shouldn’t be too hard. I also plan to record my elevator pitch, and get it turned in by next Friday. If I work hard, I should be able to do it.

With all of this stuff I need to do, I’m honestly really stressed. This project is a HUGE part  of our grade, so if I don’t do well enough, I’m completely sunk. I’ve barely had time to work on my website, especially considering we don’t get time on fridays to work on it now. I barely have any of my website done, and I only have 3 more months to work on it.  Personally, I wish we had a lot more time to work on it, and less side projects like speeches or blog posts. If we had every friday to work on it, I most likely would’ve finished it by now. By now, my main hopes are that I just get done.

As I said in last week’s post, I’m making a fun, educational website about animals.  I have made extreme progress in the past week, and I am so excited to share my improvements for this week. So far, I have finished my homepage and I’m about 75% done finding the animals and pictures for each region. I also figured out my main timeline and I’m almost done with my outline for my elevator pitch, a short recorded speech trying to get people to donate support to my cause. With these improvements, I’m feeling pretty confident. Unfortunately, I don’t get a lot of time to work on my project, so this is making me nervous that I won’t get finished in time. We get a lot of projects along with this one, so the combined stress is seriously scaring me. Fortunately, I have been able to talk to my mentor, Mrs.Gibbs.  She has helping me make my website interesting and aesthetically pleasing to the eye. This added help will certainly get my website more viewers. Next Friday, I hope to have a least 1/2 of the west section done. It will take a while, but I planned to have each section done in small chunks so I don’t stress out. 3 out of 5 animals will be finished buy next week, and I will try to set off on the rest of that section as well. The progress I have made, the trouble I’ve run into, and the help I have received have given me  mixed feelings on my project, but I know it will be great.

My 20% project, as I mention in my last blog, has changed quite a bit. I faced too many problems with that project, such as lack of money and support, so I fixed by coming up with a new one. My project is a wikipedia like website that shares information on endangered animals in u.s, including information on how to help the animals in your area. This website will be a fun, educational resources that will serve as a guide to many students or teachers that want to help the endangered animals in their area,but don’t know how. My website will be divided into 8 sections, 7 will be dedicated to each region of the u.s and 1 will be dedicated solely to how you can help in each area. I’m hoping this project will be a big success once I finish it, and I’m hoping it will inspire other students to help animals. So far, I have finished the homepage of the website and currently working on the “about us” page.  I haven’t run into any problems yet, except for how I can get the word about the website around to my school. The website won’t be any good if no one sees it, but I’m sure my mentor, Mrs.gibbs, will be able to help my out. I super excited for this project, and I can’t wait until it’s finished.

Although this project has very loose rules, it does need to have a strict timeline to keep us on track. I made my own timeline, each box consisting of dates two weeks apart. I hope to keep everything on schedule!

This week, I thought I could blog about some of my favorites. Specifically, my favorite animals. As you know, I ADORE animals of all shapes and sizes, but there are a couple that just make my heart sing! My absolute, all time favorite animals are dogs and snow leopards. I love them so much for very different reasons, but they always have stuck in my mind as my favorites. We all have our favorite animals, so go ahead and comment your favorites and check out last week’s post.

Dogs, in my opinion, are pure balls of sunshine and love that decided to come down from heaven. Seriously though, dogs are the best thing to happen to the human race. They are used in so many ways, from hunting down drugs to just cuddling in bed. They are sweet, loving, and will adore you if they are raised right. There are also many, many breeds, so there are many types you can love. Each different breed has different qualities that make them special. You want a gorgeous, intelligent dog that can win awards? How about a purebred poodle? Rather have a cuddly, squishy dog that loves to sleep with you? Why not adopt a English bulldog? Trust me, adopt a dog, and your life will get SO MUCH BETTER.

Elektra Tig via Compfight

Snow leopards are easily my favorite big cat. They are secretive, mysterious cats that live in the frigid mountains. They have long, fluffy fur with and big tail, pale green eyes, and sharp fanged teeth. They are excellent predators, and can jump as far as 50 ft in the air. They often eat the blue Tibetan mountain sheep, and often kill prey by leaping from high peaks onto sheep with either a skull-crushing bite or cut to the throat. They are endangered because of their beautiful fur coats, since they are illegally poached. Luckily, they are raising awareness to help protect these stunning cats, and hopefully the species population will rise again.

As we all know, your community is really important, and regardless of where you live, they are part of countless activities that make wherever you live a better place. For example, Cubs scouts is a really big activity in my area. It teaches kids, like my little brother, facts about nature or how to build birdhouses. They get to go on cool trips and nature walks and learn teamwork and other skills they need later in life. The community has to work together to organize all of the trips and raise money for supplies. They have to plan out the meetings and supervise the scouts. They work hard to make sure it’s fun and exciting for the kids in it, and I think they do a fantastic job, especially considering how much my brother loves it!

Pixabay

Now, Cubs scouts is mainly a more neighborhood type of community project. School communities are also very important. My school offers TONS of after school clubs and teams. For example, there’s Academic team, Art club, Drama and theater, and the list could go pretty much on forever. Countless clubs aside, our school has really good clubs for the arts. I’m in art club, and I absolutely love it. We get to share our passions for art with others and make friends with those who also love it. We get about 2 hours after school every other Tuesday and we get to draw whatever we want. Not only do we get to do that, we also get the chance to give back to the school. We get to paint giant murals on school walls and draw backgrounds and props for the school play. This way, we can give back to the school, share our talents with other students, and intermingle with other clubs. Art club is my favorite part of the day, and I’m really glad the community put it in.

My main purpose of this post was to help show how important your community really is. Whether it be school or neighborhood, or another community of your own, they are special and dedicated to making the world a better place. Make sure to help contribute!